France has the most overcrowded school classes in the European Union.

Omissions

• The claim uses an absolute superlative ('the country with the most overcrowded classes'), but the available evidence shows France as the single highest only in primary education; at lower-secondary level France is tied with Spain ('France and Spain had the largest classes').
• The most explicit comparative data located (French Ministry of Education) refer to 2015 and are therefore outdated (>2 years relative to the 2026 session).
• Class size (students per class) and the pupil-teacher ratio are different metrics that can produce different rankings; some sources confirming a high French ratio use the pupil-teacher ratio rather than class size.

Sources

• PrimaryFrench Ministry of Education (education.gouv.fr) — Diversity of European education systemsIn lower secondary education, France and Spain had the largest classes in 2015 with an average of 25 students or more per class. The smallest classes were found ...
• PrimaryEurostat — Primary education statisticsIn 2024, the average number of pupils per teacher in primary education across the EU was 13.2, ranging from an average of 7.4 in Greece to 18.2 in Romania.
• PrimaryOECD — Education at a Glance 2026: How do student-teacher ratios and class sizes vary across education levelsOn average across OECD countries, the average class size in lower secondary education remained stable at 23 students per class between 2015 and ...
• SecondaryERMEES — Primary and secondary education in the European UnionGreece, Lithuania, Poland and Hungary have also a favorable ratio in primary (less than 11 students per teacher) while France has the highest ratio (more than ...)